1807.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Scciety. Ill 



means of equal value. While some furnish, so to speak, staple articles 

 of food, others can only be regarded as edible, and in a few cases are 

 even injurious, if eaten in large quantities. 



The paper was illustrated by a collection of dried specimens which 

 was inspected by the members. 



The author, in answer to a question from the President as to whe- 

 ther he had understood him to say that a number of the people lived 

 for a portion of every year on these products, replied that some of the 

 aboriginal tribes, such as the Sonthals and Coles, as well as the poorer 

 classes of Hindoos, depend solely upon the jungle to furnish them 

 with the means of subsistence for from two to three months of every 

 year. 



Several members asked questions in reference to the Mhowa and 

 other plants, specimens of which were exhibited. 



The Secretary then read Mr. Amery's paper on the origin of races, 

 of which the following is an abstract. 



Mr. Amery, in the earlier portion of his paper, enters at some length 

 into the known facts of the distribution of animals and plants over 

 the surface of the world in distant provinces, the relation of these 

 provinces to climate, the representation of species in similar climate, 

 the influence which altitude in ascending mountains has upon the 

 fauna and flora, and the resemblance of the results to those observed 

 upon the earth's surface in passing from the equator to the poles. It 

 is also shewn that distinct forms occur in widely separated countries, 

 of which the climate is similar, as in tropical Asia and tropical America, 

 and that this is not due to the unfitness of each region for the support 

 of foreign forms of life, since, in many cases, they thrive if introduced. 

 In other instances, the same forms are found existing in widely separa- 

 ted regions, as in the case of the floras of Northern Europe, and that 

 of the Western (?) slopes of the Himalayas. Hence it is inferred that 

 neither soil, climate nor any existing conditions have influenced the 

 distribution of the fauna and flora of the globe, 



Some illustrations of the replacement of animals by distinct forms 

 in other regions are then given. The author considers that there is 

 a relation between the animals and plants, also between them and 

 man of each region. Mankind, he considers as constituting a genus, 

 comprising several well marked species, some of the peculiar characters 



